Advertisers are going to need to adjust their strategies this holiday season (and beyond), as their competitors continue to spend more to get in front of mobile consumers in the search engine result pages.
The Search Agency's State of Paid Search Report Q3 2014 found that smartphone spend has increased 21 percent and tablet spend has increased 33 percent, a combined 27 percent increase among all mobile devices, whereas desktop is down 1 percent year over year (YoY). By pushing more budget toward platforms with fewer ad real estate possibilities, advertisers are thus lowering odds of impressions occurring, which explains a drop in overall impressions (20.3 percent), according to The Search Agency.
The author of the report advises advertisers to optimize toward the mobile experience by reformatting ad copy served on smartphones by tailoring messaging for the mobile user. What's more, The Search Agency also recommends directing clicks from mobile ads toward mobile-optimized landing pages. Finally, advertisers should incorporate mobile user behavior into their bid strategies.
For example, advertisers can (and are) spending more on smartphone PLAs. The Search Agency cites three reasons why. First, PLA CPCs are cheapest on smartphones, enabling advertisers to get more bang for their buck. Second, users are searching more on smartphones, a behavioral trend pushing more spend into mobile devices. Third, by putting money into smartphone PLAs, advertisers enable themselves to be present during inevitable showrooming.
The Search Agency's State of Paid Search Report Q3 2014 offers more insight into paid search trends (beyond mobile) and can be accessed here.